Why I came back

Photo credit: Britany Marin (Instagram)

In late January, I spent the shortest amount of time I have ever spent on an All Hands Volunteers project – six days. It was a whirlwind of excitement: From cold bucket showers to shitting in a hole to hanging out after work by a roaring fire under the clear night sky, everything about those six days seemed magical. So when I learned that the project would be finishing sometime in April, I decided to book a flight to help out for the last few weeks after another friend had told me he would be returning as well. But that’s not the only reason…

I came back to finish the school.

I came back because home is a bright blue t-shirt with paint smudges and pit stains from its previous owners.

I came back because there are two teenage girls in the village by our campsite who are the strongest-willed English students I may have ever taught.

I came back because I’ve never seen stars as bright as the ones above our tents at night or the ones in the eyes of the children running down the hill to school in the morning.

I came back because there was a mountain I had seen but had yet to climb; a view from the rocks above of the school we built below.

I came back because Ru came back. Because Gréta came back. Because Sergio came back. Because Jack came back. Because it’s impossible to stay away from something so unanimously positive and wonderful for everyone involved.

I came back because rum is seventy cents a bottle, and evening fireside banter is priceless.

I came back because I witnessed people from six different continents working together as equals. As friends. As family.

I came back because sometimes you meet someone who changes your life for good and you want nothing more than to meet them for a second time.

I came back because my first time on project, a girl sang a lullaby as I drifted into dreams, and I fell in love with a sunrise the next morning.

I came back because happiness has many forms, and one of them is momos and chili chips with friends around a campfire.

I came back because, “It’s for the kids.” We said it every so often throughout the project, but it really was for the kids. From the kids who lived right by the school and watched us build it brick by brick to the ones who would trek for hours up and down the mountain to reach our finished building. The kids who have lost houses, family, and friends to an unforgiving earthen thunder, but still smile and laugh while asking “Whatisyourname?” and teaching you their secret handshake. It’s for the kids whose mothers run out of the house screaming when a tremor shakes the earth, and whose families banded together to rebuild houses and communities before we even arrived. It’s for the kids who have experienced the unfair cruelties that life can bring, but have also experienced the hope that people can create together when faced with unrelenting disaster.

I came back to help create this hope.

And I came back because I will always keep coming back – to the Philippines, Nepal, Peru, the USA, or wherever the next big disaster hits. Because there are people all around this world who are forced into survival mode by sudden acts of nature. People who don’t have any other choice but to rebuild what has been lost.

I came back because I do have a choice, and for as long as I am able, I will continue to make it.